Push-polling Slime Against Obama
Jewish voters in Florida are reporting that they are being push-polled (the practice of sliming your opponent while pretending to poll voters) against Obama, by people who are trying to portray him as being anti-Jewish and sympathizing with Palestinian militants.
The McCain campaign had no comment. I would hope, considering the vicious push-polling McCain himself endured in the 2000 campaign, he would be quick to condemn such actions and demand none be taken in his name or by his campaign.
Then again he claimed he wouldn’t go dirty or belittle anyones integrity, or deal with “agents of intolerance” or question anyones patriotism….so maybe I hope in vain.
The story is not being written or shown in our US media. I see it here, UK and Israel, and now on this site. Thanks for spreading it around, it is disgusting, and so is our media.
There is another story unfolding in Michigan where the GOP may be using home foreclosure lists to disqualify voters who have lost their homes. That is not being reported here in the US either. I think our media learned a lot from the Chinese while covering the Olympics there…
Better take a closer look at the sourcing, Claudia.
A web search fails to find the reporting advocacy group, "The Jewish Council for Education in Research." It does not appear to have previously existed. On the other hand, the "co-director" of same that is quoted, Mik Moore, can be found as "Director of Communications and Public Policy at Jewish Funds for Justice," according to his entry at the Yearly Kos Convention directory. I suggest a read of his CV as posted there. You might find it enlightening.
The claim says "voters" (plural) in Florida were contacted, but only one is quoted…a former professor of multiculturalism from New Jersey now "snowbirding" in Key West.
Pretty thin stuff. Review the claims, and ask yourself what the most likely story is there.
I despise push polling but I have to admit that as I read the story it seems like its two calls, one each in Pa and Fl. Having said this, when I did a google search on "Jewish Council for Education in Research" I found this story on multiple websites and blogs.
I just received something close to a push-poll call myself the other night. The pollster asked about who I was supporting in the presidential and Minnesota senatorial elections and then responded to my responses by pointing out that the Education Minnesota union (subsidiary of the NEA) was endorsing Barack Obama and Al Franken instead of who I had named in at least one of those cases. The pollster argued that if I were to vote the other way in either case, I would be voting to “cut education funding”. Laughably untrue, of course, but definitely push-poll-ish.
I didn’t feel any coercion, but the appearance of blatant bias within the polling call was annoying.
Oh, I have no doubt push-polling could be (is!) occuring and I’m positive it’s not beneath the subterranean players on either side of the party divide, but this particular story has the stench of manufactured event wafting about it. Smells of astroturf, and not high quality astroturf.
The only place I’ve found "Jewish Council for Education in Research" during web search is in repeats of the story itself, and the spokesperson, well, I linked his self-supplied dossier above. Color me doubtful.
And what a name! Education in Research? What, there are people advocating enforced ignorance in research? GMAB.